pitt vs UC davis

[hapkidochic]

I've just been accepted to both UC Davis and Pitt. I loved them both and i'm having a really hard time choosing. Regardless of where i go, i want to come back to CA for residency. Right now i'm thinking about ortho, but who knows, that may change. Any thoughts from current pitt or davis students would be greatly appreciated! thanks much.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Kalel]

Are you a CA resident? If so, I would definitely go to Davis. Both schools are pretty close to being equivalent in academic reputation. Even if you weren't a CA resident, I'd still recc Davis since you want to do residency there. Many CA residencies have a selection biasness towards CA students/residents, and it will be easier to interview 4 years later too.

 

[Mr. Rosewater]

well, just to shed some clarity through the huge sdn cali bias, pitt is 18th and davis is 53rd in us news ranking. also, pitt gets about 300 million/year more than davis in NIH money and is higher regarded by both peers and residency directors. now being in ca, may be really important to you, only you can factor that, but pitt certainly has more resources.

plus if you go to pitt, we can be classmates

 

[MastaP]

I don't know much about Davis' ortho program.

But I do know that Pitt's ortho program is top-notch. Its chairman, Dr. Freddie Fu, is world renowned and is considered one of the most influential people in Pittsburgh. Another one of Pitt's orthopod attendings won a gold medal at the Nagano Olympics for sports medicine. There's tons of ortho research going on. The ortho sports medicine facilities are amazing and are shared by both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the University of Pittsburgh Panthers.

Still it's a tough call. Location is important. And Pittsburgh ain't no California. But Sacramento isn't exactly the nicest part of California either.

 

[jeffsleepy]

Originally posted by MastaP
Another one of Pitt's orthopod attendings won a gold medal at the Nagano Olympics for sports medicine.

Did I read that right?? Since when was sports medicine an olympic sport?

 

[madcadaver]

Originally posted by Mr. Rosewater
well, just to shed some clarity through the huge sdn cali bias, pitt is 18th and davis is 53rd in us news ranking.

Mr Rosewater-- Despite your excellent screen name I have to disagree with this. SDN may indeed have a cali bias, but a much more ridiculous bias is the US News. I would bet that there are few residency directors who could correctly guess whether Pitt or Davis had more NIH money last year. It is REALLY not very important (though I understand that since most of us have obsessive personalities we LOVE to see objective data).

Many former UCD students have gone on to ortho residencies at California universities. This is a good thing for those who follow them. Perhaps many Pitt graduates have too, I don't know.

Surely you will get an excellent education at either institution. My decision was based on cost and desire to stay in Cal for med school and the future. Your priorities may be similar or different. Good luck with your decision--
MC

 

[UCSBMed1]

I agree with mc. Of course, I'm kinda biased, but if I were you, I'd want to stay in Cali.

You want to do Ortho, and you want to stay in California for residency. Of course if you go to med school in this state, it will be a lot easier to get a residency here than if you went to school at Pitt.

Also, who would pay double the cost of a UC for a private school if they liked each school equally well? $40,000, cold weather, vs. $24,000 and 80 degree weather (which it was today by the way )? Don't get me wrong, Pitt is a good school, but if I were you I'd try to stay in my home state.

 

[Jalby]

hmmm. Large boring place or small boring place. I'd die in both places. (Kidding UCSB)

If you want to do ortho, and you want to be in california, you need to go to UCD. Schools highly favor their own students, and if you go to Pitt, you will be competing with people from Duke, Columbia, etc, etc, for a smaller amount of possible ortho spots in Cali. If you go to UCD, you have a TON better chance of getting the UCD ortho spot, and really if you are a good student it could be gaurunteed. I know that is the case at my school.

 

[Mr. Rosewater]

Originally posted by madcadaver
Mr Rosewater-- Despite your excellent screen name I have to disagree with this. SDN may indeed have a cali bias, but a much more ridiculous bias is the US News. I would bet that there are few residency directors who could correctly guess whether Pitt or Davis had more NIH money last year. It is REALLY not very important (though I understand that since most of us have obsessive personalities we LOVE to see objective data).

Many former UCD students have gone on to ortho residencies at California universities. This is a good thing for those who follow them. Perhaps many Pitt graduates have too, I don't know.

Surely you will get an excellent education at either institution. My decision was based on cost and desire to stay in Cal for med school and the future. Your priorities may be similar or different. Good luck with your decision--
MC

i'm not saying UCD isn't a good school, or that a USNWR score is the end all be all. but someone said the schools were considered about equal academically. Here's the direct quote:

Both schools are pretty close to being equivalent in academic reputation.

My point is they're not "close to equivalent" based on the fact that one school has 300 million more in research funding and has a higher score in res. dir. reviews.

lastly, i wasn't commenting on which school would be better for getting some particular cali residency. i truly have no idea. i was just debunking this one particular point.

 

[Jalby]

Pitt does have a better reputation than UCD in any place except Northern California (not counting San Francisco)

 

[madcadaver]

We could debate the validity of saying that more NIH funding = academic reputation = better education = likelihood of getting into an Ortho residency in California, but that would probably be boring. I would simply say that among California Ortho residency directors, I doubt there is a significant differnce in "academic repuation", however you define it, between Pitt and UCD. This is my opinion.

An interesting point related to the Olympics and ortho (still don't understand the olympic medal in sports medicine comment) is that Eric Heiden, winner of 5 gold medals at Lake Placid in 1980, is an Ortho attending at UC Davis.

 

[Harps]

Originally posted by Kalel
Both schools are pretty close to being equivalent in academic reputation.

I disagree with this! Especially, if someone wants to go into Ortho...chose carefully.

-Harps

 

[Jalby]

Originally posted by Harps
I disagree with this! Especially, if someone wants to go into Ortho...chose carefully.

-Harps

I would definately agree, except the OP said he wanted to do ortho in california. Big difference. But on that note, I've met sooooooo many people who wanted to do Ortho or Derm when they first got to med school, only to be in the middle to low end of the class. In fact, not a single person I know who originally wanted to do those things will prolly be able to get a residency in that area.

 

[Mr. Rosewater]

Originally posted by Jalby
I would definately agree, except the OP said he wanted to do ortho in california. Big difference. But on that note, I've met sooooooo many people who wanted to do Ortho or Derm when they first got to med school, only to be in the middle to low end of the class. In fact, not a single person I know who originally wanted to do those things will prolly be able to get a residency in that area.

haha, if i judged by my premed friends, i'd say that the country will have 50% ortho surgeons and 50% dermatologists. if you got sick w/ anything these pple couldn't cure, you're f'ed. btw, all of these pple believe that if you're in it for the money, you should go to business school, and they just really want to help pple.

 

[Jalby]

Originally posted by Mr. Rosewater
haha, if i judged by my premed friends, i'd say that the country will have 50% ortho surgeons and 50% dermatologists. if you got sick w/ anything these pple couldn't cure, you're f'ed. btw, all of these pple believe that if you're in it for the money, you should go to business school, and they just really want to help pple.

And I actually get some satisfaction when they fail. I donno. They seem to have the attitude that they deserve these residencies. Kind of like how when people get to medical school they find out they are no longer the smartest person around (unless they happen to still be the smartest person around) Some of the people are delusional about their chances. They get average grades first two years, and they decide to do a year of derm research. Granted, I'm at a P/F school so the grades don't matter, but unless a miracle occurs on the boards, Derm is not going to happen no matter how much research they do.